Review Booksmart by Jonathan Evans

From its setup and concept, Booksmart could easily be just another teen movie where shenanigans ensue and jokes are sprinkled throughout and it’s either pretty funny or a dud. But through a tightly written script, actors that have great timing and nuance and a director that knows what they’re doing and brings a few bold choices to the table it is not only very funny but one of the best movies of this year!

Opening the movie is a girl sitting in her room, in a meditating pose and listening to a motivating track, the voice tells her to believe in herself, tackle all problems in the way of her goals and to all the people that look down on her “Fuck those fucking fuckers!” we also see that her room is decorated with an assortment of ribbons, medals, and inspirational women, this is Molly (Beanie Feldstein) and this tells us almost everything we need to know about her character. Pulling up outside her best friend Amy (Kaitlyn Dever), the two greet and break into dance over a track on the radio and they tell each other that they’ve missed one another even though they saw each other yesterday. This tells us everything we need to know about their friendship.

When
they get to school it is established that it’s the last day of the
school year, they are about to graduate to college, and both girls are
very invested in extra curricular activities. The other students are
more interested in the big party that will be happening tonight as they
have for most of the year. during an encounter in the bathroom where
Molly flaunts her getting into Yale to the popular girl (Molly Gordon)
where she learns that she will also be going to Yale and the other
students that she’s looked down on are all going on to good schools.

So
it is the night before graduation, Molly is shook with the realization
that they didn’t have to make a choice between school and having a
social life that she dedicates herself to the idea that her and Amy will
be attending the big party and have fun, experience and memories before
entering college.

So this is a pretty standard setup
for a teen comedy. We have youths, we have a party that lends itself to
the very likely possibility of something crazy happening as well as
characters that want something crazy to happen. Indeed crazy things do
happen and their journey to the big party is anything but smooth, but it
is the fact that all the jokes themselves are funny and not predictable
that make this familure road seem refreshing.

When it
comes to crime movies, or mysteries, or action movies it’s a simpler
thing to make the story tight. Every character and element must serve a
function, like the old phrase “Never introduce a gun in Act 1 if you’re
not going to fire it by Act 3.” However comedy is actually a completely
different beast, it is allowed to throw in all kinds of meaningless
bells and whistles for the sake of it, there can be a moment or a
character that comes in briefly and never makes a return and as long as
we laugh I doubt anyone would really cry fowl about it. This, however,
is both tightly woven and very funny, the characters hobbies, their wild
actions, things that are said in passing come back and pay-off later
down the road and they are all funny. This has set a dangerously high
bar for comedy with not excess fat.

Filling the
directing chair is Olivia Wilde. An accomplished actor in her own right
now she helms her own project. Usually, when actors take up duties on
the other side of the camera their focus goes to the actors and their
performances. She definitely spends time with her actors, honing their
performances but she has brought a keen visual flair to this project.
She has experience shooting music videoes which was most likely the
biggest help. Many of the jokes play out for their visuals, there are
strong, bold lighting choices and there are a few times when she lets
the story play out in a purely visual way. It also comes with one of the
most unique and memorable drug trip-out scene you’ll see in a movie for
a while.

There’s a great use of music in the movie.
Much of the songs are “Gangsta Rap” which is about seeming bigtime and
bragging about all your accomplishments and worldly possetions. Whenver
the girls are in their true element it kick in but they are not doping
the actthat would most likely be associated with the music e.g. going
into a library to study. It is the knowing disconnect but filmming it
like its legitimate that makes it funny. The score adds the the
over-the-top overblown ego of these characters and situations. Later on
in the movie there is a more tender score to even out the bombosity.

All
these laughs and shock and colors are fun and everything but unless it
all means something then the movie would just be like sugar, enoyable
while your having it but the sensation quickly fades away. Underneath
all the swearing, crazy acts and punchlines is a story about two best
friends whos lives are about to change forever and just because your
outside of the normal in your school life that doesnt make you better.
There’s a tender, vry honest heart beating at the center of this movie
and that’s what will stick with you after you see it and keep you coming
back.

From it’s vivid characters that represent some form of insecurity/stereotype, to it’s basic setup that becomes on epic quest, to generous visual flourishes and a rock solid script for all this to be built upon, Booksmart is one of this years and a few other years best comedies.